STEPFATHER BANK

Hard-cover debut from the author of various paperbacks: heroic young rebellious poet overthrows evil world dictatorship. Embroidered. In 2110, the Bank owns everything and employs everybody--except fat, unwashed free spirit Monaghan Burlew, who buys nothing, sells nothing, doesn't work, and thus has no credit status with the Bank; he spends his nomadic days preaching against the evils of the system, even though nobody listens. Perceiving Burlew to be a dire threat, therefore, the Bank's directors--three evil, ancient men, one cloned woman, and a cyborg Bank mouthpiece--determine to terminate Burlew forthwith. (The Bankers have their own problems concerning the Blossom and Hades, but we don't find out what these are until the end.) Burlew acquires a companion, the beautiful black Jaylen Mcgreen, who as a Bank agent is supposed to destroy him but helps him instead. At first, Burlew and Jaylen continue with their peaceful revolution; but when that doesn't work, Burlew turns to sabotage--successfully this time; his efforts imperil completion of the Blossom, a super-duper orbiting computer that is designed to psychically protect the solar system against the threat of Hades, a wandering black hole. When completed, however, the Blossom goes on strike--so Burlew must save the world himself, as the Banks' directors variously self-destruct. Humdrum ideas and treatment in a bouncy, amiable narrative that has no particular drawbacks--but no special attractions either.